Skyship Industries, Inc. for US$1 – the sale being contingent on construction of manufacturing facilities on the site. The airport was named after the noted American Navy rigid airship pioneer, Lt. Cmdr. Zachary Lansdowne. This sale of Lansdowne airport was met with some local opposition, concerns ranging from airship safety to a large hangar obstructing the view or being an eyesore. By the summer of 1983, efforts to obtain federal and state funding had stalled. In June of that year, federal officials informed American Skyship Industries Inc. that additional proof of private financing was required before $4.2 million in federal loans and grants could be released. Internal disagreements and failure to raise the required private financing lead to Scoville's departure from the company he had co-founded. Afterward, the company was briefly managed by Michael McL. Foster-Turner. The company's offices were finally shuttered in the fall of 1984. Advanced Airship Corporation (AAC) Wren Skyships became the Advanced Airship Corporation (AAC) in 1988. Construction of the prototype ANR was commenced, but envelope problems delayed its completion, and AAC went into liquidation during the early 1990s recession. Skyship 600 Airship Industries followed the Skyship 500 with the similar but larger Skyship 600, long with of helium and seating for up to 18 passengers and two crew. The first Skyship 600 flew from Cardington on 6 March 1984. In all, ten Skyship 600s were built: two at Cardington; three at Weeksville, near Elizabeth City, North Carolina; one at Sydney; two in Japan; and one at Lakehurst, New Jersey. As was the case with the 500, two additional gondolas were commenced but never completed. Like the 500, the 600 was employed in the traditional blimp role as an advertising and camera platform and tested in a variety of other civil and military roles. The sightseeing operations begun with the 500 were expanded to take in a number of additional cities worldwide, including Paris, Toronto, Montreal, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, San Francisco and Zurich, as well as London. Financial issues At the time when the first 600 flew, AI was seeking to raise capital for continued operations. A£5.5 million rights issue in 1983 was followed by a second for £7 million, this time underwritten by Alan Bond's Bond Corporation, the following year. The firm had posted a £2.3 million loss for the six months to 30 September 1983, as a result of delays in the 500s testing